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For the five months it lasted, about 2. 7 million Nigerians, who are now victims, considered themselves most fortunate. They probably believed God, in His mercies, sent down BBHTV from heaven to mitigate pains inflicted on them by the current excruciating national economic crisis. For sitting down at home, watching videos (described as a performance of TASK), they were earning fabulous amounts of money daily, in line with the member’s (also called employee) level. There were mouthwatering bonuses upon bonuses, a trend that would have produced many millionaires in a year but for the crash of the scheme last week. PAUL OGBUOKIRI reports
Millions lose billions of naira
With the announcement last week that all its accounts have been frozen, BBHTV, which sneaked into the life of Nigerians as a lifesaving interventionist programme at a time of economic crisis, would go down in history as the second biggest scam in Nigeria after the MMM Ponzi Scheme, which crashed in 2017. The latest development, which the victims said unknown to them was a Ponzi Scheme, has left over 2.7 million Nigerians losing billion of naira few days ago after the company, BBHTV’ announced to the victims (who it called employees) that the Federal Inland Revenue Service has frozen its accounts over issues of payment of Personal Income Tax.
The said frozen account, according to the faceless operators, holds a whopping sum of N89.4 billion. An employee, who said his personal loss was N1.5 million, said: “I have been seriously down since this happened. I finally completed my treatment today(Wednesday). I am broken not because of the money I lost but the people I convinced to join BBHTV. As it is, I am looking for money to pay some money back to them, even if a widow in my area is involved because I thought I was helping her not knowing that I am going to cause more problems to her.”
Rev. Dr. Peter Ejemurua, who mobilized over 800 members of his church to join the group and is well regarded in the BBHTV said; “It is so unfortunate that this has happened. My name is being slandered when I’m innocent….We saw that this job looked legit and I introduced my family and church members and paid for them, so we all could benefit. As I was withdrawing, I did my best to upgrade them and myself.
In fact, I just upgraded to P8 with the money I had left before this whole thing happened. “I have read all the insults and backlash- es coming from people and I take them in good faith. I have lost greatly but I know the wicked will not go free. I am a Servant of God and I have been in ministry for over 50 years. Soon, I’ll be 80 and will always stand for the truth!” A certain Chidiebere, who is one of the admins said: “A lot of you are thinking that I am one of them but I am a victim too.
“I refused to talk because it came as a shock to me. Actually, this is my first time involving myself in online business. I know there is genuine online businesses. When I saw BBH, I thought I had found it. “Based on the business discussion I had with Serena, who is in charge of the UK certificate registration, the steps taken by one of us for Nigeria CAC registration, the opening of 22 offices, I believed it was real and genuine. “I resigned from work to do this BBH because of the assurance and how convinced I was.
“It was going smoothly and got sweeter when rewards and subsidies were introduced. “A lot of people wouldn’t have lost much if not for upgrades and subsidies. Wallet was promising and everyone was happy. Until it suddenly got to this point of tax payment.”
BBHTV or BBH Films Nigeria limited
A Google search on BBHTV showed that the company was registered as BBH Films Nigeria Limited, which is an arm of the BBH Global, a London based company. It claims to have an active online presence, showing what it does and how one can join it. How- ever, it introduces itself as an online business company, which has strong profitability and a complete industrial chain. It says that its employee-centered philosophy helps Nigeria people get out of life’s difficulties.
The faceless operators (no verifiable or personal contact in Nigeria, Serena, the Hiring Manager has a foreign phone line) who brought the company to Nigeria, also claimed that the company is an arm of the BBH Global, the UK Company. BBH Films Nigeria Limited was incorporated in Nigeria three months ago, according to information on the company’s site. However, indications were that the company was never registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as Dr. Peter Ejeruma, who was supposed to handle their CAC registration was told to suspend it when they announced the freezing of its accounts.
BBH TV and its ‘employees’ (depositors)
On the platforms used to attract Nigerians to join the scheme, the company claimed that it does not rely on people’s deposits to make profit. Its profits, according to the Hiring Manager (aka Serena), come from promotion fees paid by film and television companies around the world. “We use this profit to pay our employees,” she said. They claimed that the company was set up by three friends in the United Kingdom in 2018.
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They added that it is world-renowned for its creative and efficient advertising agency; based in business centres of major cities. They further claimed that within the five months, it has been in Nigeria, it has created partnerships with major foreign film companies and urged the ‘employees’ to cooperate with the company by completing their tasks effectively to earn good income to better the lots of their families.
They cautioned employees that to make money in BBH, you need to work, rather than investing. But in another breath, the employees were presented with different investment options to earn bonuses and for upgrades. In their last September meeting, Serena claimed that they have already exhausted N12.36 billion in the first round of ‘special funds’, and remaining special funds were about N2.6 billion, saying that the special funds used to carry out recruitment activities are limited.
She urged members to actively participate in the activities organized by the company and create income for themselves. However, during their October 1st meeting, a certain Alice, who says she is the Assistant to Mr. Williams Jonah, regional marketing manager, West Africa, said with support from their BBH UK Headquarters, through preferential activities and recruitment activities, the company’s online employees have exceeded 2.7 million.
It noted that the ‘success of many members stems from their unremitting efforts. They dare to face difficulties, challenge themselves, know how to integrate resources, and develop their own recruitment ideas. This is the prerequisite for their success.” She urged members to show their talent in BBH, fully display their talents, move for- ward towards their goals and lead a successful life, saying, “it is hoped that all employees can actively participate in the activities carried out by the company and create more income for themselves.”
The content of the activities the employees are required to participate in are as follows: P-level (regular employee) invites A-level subordinates to become P-level: “If you invite an A-level subordinate to become P2, an A-level subordinate to become P3, an A-level subordinate to become P4, an A-level subordinate to become P5, an A-level subordinate to become P6, and an A-level subordinate to become P7.
Interns become P-level regular employees are as follows: If an intern becomes a regular employee P2, an intern becomes a regular employee P3, an intern becomes a regular employee P4, an intern becomes a regular employee P5, an intern becomes a regular employee P6, and an intern becomes a regular employee P7. There is also a special subsidy successful upgrade to P3 level, upgrade to P4 level, upgrade to P5 level, upgrade to P6 level and upgrade to P7 level. The person invited or upgraded pays security deposits while the company in turn pays the person.
Deposits and bonuses
The deposits and bonuses are as follows: Deposit N10, 000 PinBridge Global Fund to get additional 21 percent bonus; N50, 000 PineBridge Global Fund to get an additional 23 percent bonus; N500, 000 PineBridge Global Fund to get an additional 27 per cent bonus; N1, 000,000 PineBridge Global Fund and get 29 per cent bonus, and N2, 000,000 PineBridge Global Fund to get an additional 31 percent bonus.
Giving further insight on the mouthwatering incentives BBH TV put in place for an investor, Serena said: “There is no conflict between event rewards and invitation rewards. For example, if you are a P4 and invite P4 during the current event period, then you will get N30, 240 invitation rewards, N100, 800 event rewards, one lucky draw (mini- mum N1,777) and daily task management bonus.
Then, your income for inviting P4 is: invitation reward N30,240 + Event reward N100, 800+ draw N1,777=N132,817. And daily task management reward N450, aside from the investment money There are other investment options. For instance, if you deposit N1, 000, 000 in the wealth fund for 30 days, the interest rate is 1.5 per cent. The calculation method is N1, 000, 000 multiplied by 1.5 per cent+N1,500 (the profit you can get everyday).
After 30 days, you will receive the principal + interest = N1, 450, 000, the time limit of the wealth fund after maturity your principal +interest will be returned to your BBH account, and you can withdraw money at any time.
The suspended NLC/TUC strike: Suspension of withdrawals for 7 days
Until the announcement of the recently suspended NLC/TUC national strike which would have started on October 1, everything was going on well; people were earning their bonuses and several other incentives and were making their withdrawals seamlessly, just once in a week. Your day of withdrawal depends on the level to belong to. Sequel to the strike threat, the company announced a 7-day ‘holiday’.
During this period, ‘employees’ could not withdraw their money but continued with those activities that bring revenue into the coffers of the company, like recruitment of new members and making payments into the account of the company. Serena said: “Since October 1st to October 7th is a national holiday in Nigeria, during the period, BBH Nigeria subsidiaries: Marketing, Department, Finance Department, Ministry of Justice, and all employees will have a holiday.
“The entire business recruitment department will continue as usual. If you have any questions about daily tasks, recruitment, upgrades and other business, you can contact the recruitment manager for consultation. “Also, the recharge business is operating normally. During this period, all recharges will be automatically reviewed by the BBH’s intelligent AI. If your recharge is successful, your money will automatically arrive in the BBH account.
“Because the local financial company in Nigeria entrusted by the BBH Company is on holiday, therefore, BBH’s financial department will also have a holiday and the withdrawal business will be temporarily suspended during the holiday. The holiday will end on October 6 and the financial department will also return to normal,” they announced. The strike was cancelled by the Labour Unions but the withdrawal order stayed. ‘Employees were to start withdrawing on October 8th.
Rumours of collapse
Alice, who always speaks on behalf of Williams Jonah, had noted that some employees had reported to the company that they were dreading the holiday week and felt overwhelmed by the long break. “There are also some excited employees who spread remours about BBHTV, such as: BBH is going to collapse, BBH is a scam, and so on. “BBH will not collapse. BBH does not rely on people’s deposits to make profits.
BBH’s profits come from promotional fees paid by film and television companies around the world. We use the profit to pay our employees. BBH is a formal commercial company. Since BBH entered the Nigerian market, the financial statements of BBH’s Nigerian subsidiary have been rising every month,” she said. According to Alice, after making profits, BBH uses part of the profit to carry out incentive activities for all employees to help employees earn more income in the company.
“All employees are requested to respect the company. Do not believe the rumours spread, and firmly believe in our company, just as the company respects its employees. In the days to come, we will continue to grow with the company and get everything we want in BBH. “The arrival of a new month means the beginning of a new challenge.
In the next period of time, in order to maintain faster and more effective completion of order of tasks within the scheduled time, the company headquarters will allocate N7 billion special funds for recruitment activities. I hope everyone will actively participate in the activities organised by the company and create more income for themselves. Make a bigger difference for your family,” Alice said.
The wealth fund added a new product tagged “Baring Fund” which it said is for a limited time, with a fixed deposit period of 7 days. The daily profit rate is 2.5 per cent, and the total profit in 7 days is 17.5 percent of the principal. The purchase time period is from October 5, 2023 to October 8, 2023, a time that coincided with the period of no withdrawal. After the purchase time limit is exceeded, “Baring Fund” products will not be purchased again.
Baring Fund over subscribed
As if the plan was to lock up employees’ money in their possession and get them to bring in fresh funds, the Baring fund was announced. However, the company in a notice on October 5 (while the no withdrawal order was in force), disclosed that due to the excessive number of buyers of the new wealth fund, all fund shares have been snapped up. Baring Fund will no longer be able to make purchases.
Network difficulty hampered withdrawal after ‘holiday’
Most employees had difficulty withdrawing after the one-week holiday on Monday; the company blamed it on network upgrade. But while that challenge subsists, Mr. Williams Jonah gave notice of no work on Tuesday 11 for all employees. He disclosed that during that one-day ‘holiday, the company’s business negotiations, meetings, withdrawal business are completely suspended but movie viewing tasks can continue to be completed during holidays.
The implication is that those in levels P3, P4 and P5 would have been denied their one- day a week withdrawal rights for two weeks. Lamenting the situation, one vocal employee said that it means “who withdraw on Tuesday cannot be able to withdraw this week at all, even as those who withdraw on Mondays were not able to withdraw due to the withdrawal challenges…two weeks gone for them.”
Another employee in frustration posted on their group whatsapp chat: “As they’re taking us unaware, they’re supposed to make adjustments for withdrawal, either P3 to withdraw with P1 and P2 and the rest with P5 and P6. This is not encouraging at all. There was no withdrawal last week and this week that people hope to get their money, you are denying them again.”
In a move to douse that tension, the company as usual announced that in order to celebrate the company’s anniversary, its senior management has allocated additional N10 billion special fund from the headquarters to repay the support and trust of all the employees, so that all employees can enjoy the joy and benefits of the anniversary. There will also be double earnings for all levels on their task, starting from 12th to 15th.
The bubble bursts
From October 14, employees were experiencing serious difficulty withdrawing their monies from the BBH TV platform, while they were being given assurances that the situation would improve. On October 20, the Hiring Manager, simply known as Serena announced that “Received notification from the executives of the company indicate that there is involvement of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in the investigation of BBH TV business transactions and funds.
All requests for salary transfers from local financial companies in Nigeria entrusted by BBH TV to all employees have been rejected by the bank.” According to her, the company is actively talking to FIRS to deal with the matter. “If there is any latest news, I will announce it in the BBH Discussion Group,” she said. Mr. Willams Jonah announced the plan reached between the company and the FIRS.
He disclosed that FIRS has frozen all the funds of BBH TV local financial company in Nigeria on the grounds that the company needs to pay Personal Income Tax for its business activities. He claimed that FIRS required all employees of BBH TV to pay Personal Income Tax. “When that is paid, the frozen N89.4 billion funds in the BBH TV account will be unfrozen,” Mr. Jonah further claimed.
But, the Special Assistant on Media to the Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dare Adekanbi, told Sunday Telegraph: “Our response is that it is unethical for FIRS to release information about taxpayers to the public. Therefore our response is no comment.” But sources close to the agency told our correspondent that FIRS does not collect Personal Income Tax and therefore could not have frozen the company’s account over that matter.
Notice of Tax Payment
The Hiring Manager posted the notice on the BBH Discussion Group. According to the notice, FIRS requires that all current employees of BBH TV must pay their Income Tax. Serena disclosed that after consultation between the company and FIRS, it was agreed that all the employees of the BBH TV must pay 25 per cent of their deposit amount in the BBH fund. The remaining taxes to be paid will be borne by BBH TV. Currently, all the employees need to pay tax based on the security deposit for their current level. There are nine levels, apart from the Intern.
25 percent of P1’s deposit is N3,750; P2-N7,500; P3-N21,00; P4-63,000; P5-N162,500; P6-N390,00; P7-N1,200,000; P8- N2,400,000 and P9-6,000,00. All taxes according to Serena will be paid by BBH on behalf of the employees. She said after the tax payment is completed, the N89.4 billion allegedly frozen by FIRS will be unfrozen within one working day when employees who have successfully paid their personal income tax can initiate a withdrawal application immediately.
“You will successfully receive legitimate income earned at the BBH. After funds are unfrozen, all levels can withdraw on all days (including Saturdays and Sundays). Serena gave the employees four hours, from the time of the announcement to complete the payment online on the BBH platform. Anyone who failed to complete the payment process within the period, it will be deemed as a voluntary surrender of one’s margin and funds in the BBH account. “Your deposit and funds will be surrendered to the FIRS.
Your BBH work account will also be locked.” Serena said. To add salt on injury, she said that BBH Wallet balance cannot be taxed because all funds of BBH TV are currently frozen. “You need to make a deposit into the employees’ BBH account and send the transfer receipt to the Hiring Manager for verification. After verification, the Hiring Manager can report to the Company that the employee has paid taxes successfully.”
Maybe, she apparently forgot the things she said earlier about the frozen account which can only be unfrozen when the employees have all paid their taxes, she said in her closing statement that any employee who already paid his taxes, can send his or her payment voucher to Serena and “your BBH Work Account number. Employees who successfully pay taxes can withdraw money normally tomorrow (which is Sunday).”
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN NEW TELEGRAPH
